This invention relates to a guidance device for a domestic animal, such as a dog, comprising a primary collar section, a secondary collar section, and means for reversibly connecting the secondary collar section to the primary collar section to form a training collar which can be easily placed around the dog's neck without the twisting inherent in prior art training collars.
The applicants have discovered that if you hold a training collar in front of you, as if preparing to put it on your dog, it swivels allowing the chain to twist because of gravity. For a constricting loop chain, the weight of the chain makes the connector swivel so that chains lie next to each other, not one on top of the other, and twisting of the constricting loop chain results. This twisting impedes movement of the constricting loop chain so that difficulties in tightening the collar result. Moreover, the chain can twist more as it is put on the dog if the swivel is nudged by the dogs neck.
The means for reversibly connecting of the instant invention has a reversible fastener for attaching to the other of the first end and the second end of the primary collar section independent of twisting when attached to the neck of the domestic animal. This is provided by having the means for reversibly connecting being independent of internal rotation about its longitudinal axis.
Alternative technology is available in the form of U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,303 issued in 1997 to Deioma for a constrictive collar which teaches a pinch collar having a swiveling bolt fastener slidably attached to a constrictive loop or chain; U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,369 issued in 1990 to Sporn for a strain reducing dog harness having a collar and a pair of restraint cables removably attachable to the collar via snap connectors; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,815 issued to Halla in 1990 for a collar disclosing a constricting animal collar having a chain slidably attached between a pair of attachment rings that are secured to the ends of the collar. Other choke collars include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,159,140 and 4,996,648, issued in 1963 and 1991 respectively, for constricting animal collars used for training.
The principal disadvantage of such devices are the predisposition to tangling and twisting of the constricting loop. The swivel on the clip that closes the collar allows the chain to twist making the handler's constricting correction action impaired.
The citation of the foregoing publications is not an admission that any particular publication constitutes prior art, or that any publication alone or in conjunction with others, renders unpatentable any pending claim of the present application. None of the cited publications is believed to detract from the patentability of the claimed invention.